Tuesday, March 04, 2008

I usually try not to link to the Trib, since it often requires registering to read articles. This one was too good to pass up, though. In order for his son to get to a tennis practice match, a Lake Villa resident flies from his home to the country club in Lincolnshire. I know you're probably thinking "hey, it's this guy's money, if he wants to fly, let him."

Now, if this was a club with a private landing strip, there'd be no problems. However, said aerial genius landed across the street from the country club, which just happens to be one of the fairways on the Lincolnshire Marriott resort's golf course. Like the article says, it's as if people were supposed to ignore a small plane circling at low levels over a place that isn't an airport. Now, if this guy had flown to nearby Palwaukee Airport, rented a car and driven, he'd be normal. But no, this mental giant decides that he's going to get his darling boy to tennis practice, respect for others' property and federal aviation laws be damned!

So, this guy breaks trespassing laws, laws dealing with filing false flight plans (or worse, no flight plans) as well as possibly damaging private property. And what's the kicker? The kid didn't even make it to the match, having to watch as his Dad got perhaps the best "Why did you stop thinking?" speech ever.

That all of this happened in my old stomping grounds is pure comedy gold to me. I used to live in Wheeling and Palatine, and worked near the Lincolnshire resort where this happened. Some of the well-to-do had the "What's the harm?" attitude it takes to pull a stunt like this. I have a sneaking suspicion that this guy would be very angry if people started using his home as a skydiving target, and might even rail about how no one respects property rights. He deserves more grief than he'll probably get over it, though. To paraphrase Don King, "Only in the Northwest Suburbs!"